Boeing workers' vote on pay deal to test new CEO | Businesses cut hiring, expanding employee responsibilities | Travis Kelce on why you need to tell your story
Striking Boeing workers will vote on a new contract Wednesday. (Bloomberg/Getty Images)
Boeing's 33,000 striking workers will vote Wednesday on a new contract featuring a 35% pay raise, ending the five-week strike that has hobbled the manufacturing giant and presented a critical challenge to new CEO Kelly Ortberg. The vote comes as investors await the earnings report reflecting a 10% workforce reduction and a proposed $25 billion refinancing for the struggling company. Full Story: Yahoo (10/21)
Recruiting & Retention
Businesses cut hiring, expanding employee responsibilities As businesses contend with reduced revenue and high operational costs, many are cutting hiring and assigning extra duties to existing employees, a strategy employed by firms like Express Employment Professionals. Some employees enjoy the new tasks and enhanced skills, but other workers are frustrated that the assignments do not include immediate wage increases, and unions and staffing officials voice concerns over unrealistic job expectations. Full Story: USA Today (10/20)
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Lifestyle tips that can support greater longevity A set of simple lifestyle habits may help people increase their longevity, experts say. A healthful diet with plant-based foods, frequent physical activity, a strong belief system, positive relationships with others, and a sense of personal purpose may contribute to a longer lifespan, they say. Full Story: CNBC (10/15)
Benefits & Compensation
Do workers abuse unlimited PTO? Although unlimited paid time off attracts new employees, few abuse the benefit, a new study by retirement plan provider Empower finds. While employers worry employees will abuse the benefit, Empower finds that, on average, workers take 16 days off instead of the typical 14. Full Story: Society for Human Resource Management (tiered subscription model) (10/17)
Conflicts among team members may be inevitable, but Karin Hurt and David Dye offer eight strategies to quell discord, including staying calm, finding and understanding the root of the dispute, following up with team members afterward and teaching them techniques to handle future disagreements. "The highest-performing teams don't shy away from conflict. They embrace it and understand that every disagreement is an opportunity to build relationships and improve results," they write. Full Story: Let's Grow Leaders (10/18)
Maybe this one is too easy? Marty McFly and Doc Brown go time traveling in a DeLorean in "Back to the Future." What was the original fuel used in the flux capacitor?
Three weeks before my son got married in 2018, we had a terrible argument. It got loud and lasted for several minutes. He finally just sank down onto my bed, sad and dejected. I remember watching him for a second, then sitting down next to him. “Mom, I don’t want to fight,” he said quietly. “When I remember my wedding, I don’t want to think of us yelling.” I dropped my head, smiling. My oldest has never liked conflict. Marriage was going to be an interesting journey for him, I remember thinking to myself. “Son,” I said gently, “sometimes yelling is the only way to get to what’s actually wrong. It’s the only way to start fixing something.” And we did. The shouting ended, and the conversation began. Slowly, we untangled the problem and came to an agreement. Navigating conflict is a dance, as we see in today’s HR Leader story by Karin Hurt and David Dye. Conflict will happen in the workplace for many reasons--and not all of it is bad. Hurt and Dye offer some good suggestions for helping team members manage this properly and find their way to resolution. What tips do you have for defusing tense situations and steering them toward productive discussion? How do you bring quarreling parties together? I’d love to hear what works for you. Drop me a line! Do you love this brief? Share it with others. Want different stories? Something about it bug you? Tell me. In the words of Frasier Crane, “I’m listening.”
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